PsychoStud.com

March 17, 2008

Currently, the USP is on lock-down. An institution goes on lock-down at the direction of the warden usually whenever there is a general threat to staff and/or inmates or the threat-level is unknown. Other reasons an institution might go on lock-down include bomb threats, national or local emergencies (natural or man-made), or in response to an assault, riot, or otherwise disruptive activity. When an institution goes on lock-down, all inmates are secured within their (typically) two-manned cell and are not allowed out except for showers, medical escorts, or other activities that cannot reasonably be performed through a food slot in the cell door. The USP has been on lock-down 4-5 times in the last 6 months for various reasons. While I will not go into detail about the rationale for the current lock-down, partly because not all intelligence is shared with all staff (including psychologists) and partly because of security reasons, I will say we have been on lock-down for the last 1 1/2 weeks after being off lock-down for one week following an almost two-month lock-down.

My day started with a meeting with “all staff not assigned to a correctional post.” The number of staff meeting this condition varies with the day depending on how many people decide to show up. At this meeting I was assigned to help backup a unit officer as the inmates were allowed out of there cells (but not out of the unit). My role was to play support and to have an increased staff presence in case the inmates decided to engage in some disruptive activity. This was my entire day: watching inmates take showers, talk on the phones, watch TV, and yell with other inmates (the noise-level in one of these units really is unnecessary). I was able to briefly slip into my psychologist role and sneak in a referral for a medical evaluation. We will see what tomorrow brings.

March 18, 2008

We remain on lock-down. Today I got to conduct medical escorts. This is when an inmate has to be placed in restraints and physically escorted to the on-site hospital for an appointment. I got to see a dentist extract a tooth. Escorting took up the first several hours of my day. Sometime after lunch I was free and took the time to meet with my “mentor.” The BOP offers a Mentor/Protege program to enhance professional development. My mentor is the Chief Chaplain. We are required to meet for one hour each month. However, we had to make up for last month due to the lock-down requiring me to perform other duties.

March 19, 2008

Today was more of the same with one exception: I met my quota of seeing naked men. It’s probably not what you are thinking. The BOP has a procedure called “visual searches.” To the lay person, think strip search. Grown men strip down to nothing and proceed through a series of revealing poses that allows the observer to visually check for any hidden objects, if you get what I mean. There is no touching the inmates, but I got to see more than I ever wanted. As of today I am no longer a visual search virgin. And a 400 pound man broke me in. I think I might need some therapy.

March 20, 2008

Today was more of the same: watching inmates be inmates. I did have the opportunity to read some interesting articles.

Victimization Over the Life Span: A Comparison of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Siblings

March 21, 2008

Finally! Today I was not assigned to a unit and was therefore able to be a psychologist. The majority of my day was spent reading research articles since the lock-down has lead to a shortage of work to do. Some of the articles I read today were: For women, but not men, religion may aid mental health, Why Are Hispanics at Greater Risk or PTSD?, and The law explored: who is legally responsible for suicide?

Toward the end of the day, I made rounds in the Special Housing Unit or SHU. SHU is were we keep the inmates who have gotten in trouble on the compound, are placed in protective custody, are being held for another institution, or are awaiting investigation of some sort before being allowed to the general population. The SHU is supposed to be the most secure place in the institution and extra care is taken when transporting or otherwise engaging these inmates. Psychology Services is required to make rounds in SHU at least once a week. For the most part, everything went as normal with inmates yelling insults at me, asking for medication, asking to be pulled from their cells, etc. One thing that working in a correctional setting is really good for is learning how to identify people with legitimate mental health needs and those who are seeking “secondary gain.” Secondary gain is when an inmate feigns or exaggerates mental health symptoms in an attempt to get something unrelated. In SHU my conservative estimate is that 80-90% of inmates reporting psychological symptoms are seeking secondary gain. The number one motive is to get medication. The BOP does not prescribe medication for sleeping difficulties. However, inmates are quite aware that some mental health medications cause drowsiness. Many inmates have a desire to sleep through their incarceration. Other inmates want medications to get “high.” To survive as a psychologist in a prison, one must be able to quickly and accurately discern between real and fake mental health issues. This is complicated by the high numbers of Axis II individuals.

I thought my day would end with writing a memo and incident report on an inmate who recently killed another inmate and was currently threatening to kill a staff member over not getting his property. (My attempt at de-escalation did not appear helpful.) I was wrong. As I was just heading through the gate that lead me closer to my own freedom, I was summoned to return due to an inmate in SHU placing a noose around his neck. After conducting a suicide risk assessment, I determined the inmate was attempting to get medication (for sleeping) and a phone call. I left work three hours late.

March 24, 2008

Well, the lock-down remains on. I spent my morning escorting medical staff (the complex maintains a contract with a near-by university-related medical system) to different units were the inmates could more easily be seen for their appointments. Compared to other ways to spend my morning, this was not such a bad thing. At least I was able to get out of a single unit and walk around. In the afternoon I returned to a unit to provide back-up support to a unit officer.

March 25, 2008

Well, things are slowly returning to “normal.” The institution is slowly allowing the inmates more freedom. I was able to serve as a psychologist today, conducting screenings with inmates who have returned from going to state or federal court. Many inmates go through a serious of court visits either due to filing appeals, being tried for other charges, awaiting sentencing, testifying in trials, etc. When an inmate has left the institution to go on what is called a “writ” and then returns, Psychology Services must conduct a screening to make sure that the inmate is not suicidal due to some significant change in their legal status. My day concluded with a SHU inmate threatening to cut on himself if Psychology did not come to see him. Of course, when I arrived he was not interested in speaking to me presumably because I am not a female. He has a history of masturbating in front of female staff. I was thus able to leave work on time. Once again being a male pays off.

March 26, 2008

When you work at this USP, you don’t often have the opportunity to visit the other institutions in the complex. Still, today I was called to go to the Medium to assist another psychologist with SHU reviews. Every inmate in SHU is required by policy to have a thorough mental health assessment every 30 days to determine if their “solitary” confinement is causing mental decompensation.

March 27, 2008

The BOP has an affinity for giving awards. They give monetary or time-off awards for anything from being names “correctional worker of the month” to “correctional officer of the quarter” (notice the distinction between officer and worker) to doing a good job by finding a shank, for example. The award service pins for every 5-year interval for which a person works for the BOP. It seems quite obvious that sometime way back, some psychologist informed the BOP leadership that staff were like rats or pigeons whose behavior and motivation could be shaped by random and fixed-interval reinforcement. My morning started with an hour-and-a-half-long staff recall in which numerous aforementioned rewards were given out. Of course, I did not receive any award, but hey, at least I was an honor graduate at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. That’s something that not many other people in the BOP can say. (I was given a $300 bonus for this accomplishment.) After the meeting, I went back to the USP where I had a mostly quiet day. Seems the inmates are settled down for the time being. This may be what is referred to as “rocking staff to sleep.”

March 28, 2008

Today started off with a mostly quiet morning. I followed-up with a couple inmates on the units. I was called to speak to an inmate who was complaining of hearing voices and starting to hate himself. Turns out he just wanted to speak to a female psychologist and to get a phone call, despite his phone privileges having been taken away for disciplinary reasons. Desiring phone calls is another major contributor to inmates claiming psychological problems.

A little after lunch I was called to SHU due to an inmate telling the warden he wanted to kill himself. I spent a good portion of the afternoon conducting a suicide risk assessment and writing the documentation. If it hasn’t become obvious by now, the BOP is hypersensitive about potential suicides. I think this fixation is absolutely justified given the high rates of suicide in correctional settings compared to the general population. However, there is an unfortunate side to this. Inmates are a very resourceful bunch and are quite aware of the Bureau’s fears. They often use this to their advantage by threatening suicide if their demands are not met. But, that’s why the Bureau employs psychologists.